Day One 7/14/16
On the Water: 4:40PM - 5:50PM
Air Temperature: 82-77
Water Temperature: 78-76
Water Clarity: Clear
Skies: Partly Cloudy/Overcast
Wind: 10 MPH S, gusts to 16MPH
Barometric Pressure: 29.9-29.8
By the time I finally got on the water, storms were already starting to roll into the state, so I knew I wasn't going to have much time to fish. I pulled up my Navionics sonar map on my phone and went straight to my most productive area of the lake; two humps side by side, with 30 feet of water on all sides, and 17' at the peak of the humps. As soon as I came across the first hump on the upwind side, I began marking fish at the first depth change, in about 28 FOW. I dropped a Reaction Strike Chunky Shad, rigged on a 1/4 oz Strike King Squadron Swimbait Jig Head, off the side of the kayak, and before it hit bottom, it got picked up. It wasn't a huge fish, it was actually a little below average for this lake, just shy of 2lbs, but I'll take a fish in my first cast any day. Once I landed the fish I dropped a marker buoy in the general area, and took another cast with the swimbait. This time I got hit 3 times on the retrieve but couldn't hook up. After 10 more casts without a bite, I decided to try the adjacent piece of structure. I noticed the fish were sitting a little higher up on the water column, so i tossed out a Strike King KVD Jerkbait, in the crystal minnow color, and after experimenting with my cadence, I hooked up with a fish. Unfortunately, the fish hit on an extremely long cast and I was not able to gain any leverage, once he jumped, the Jerkbait promptly came flying back towards me at mach 10. However on the next cast, I was able to boat a fish, that was a little over 2 lbs. As I was drifting over the hump, I began noticing some surface activity, I must of spooked a school of alewife and fired up the bass. I tossed an Albino Zoom Superfluke into the surface commotion and was immediately struck. Another decent 2lb fish. As I was releasing the fish, I noticed a couple more boils roughly 10 feet in front of me, again I was struck almost as soon as the bait hit the water, but this time my line broke on the hook set. It wasn't long after this I heard a rumble of thunder off in the distance, so I began my trek back to the launch.
Total for Day One: 3 Fish in the boat, 1 lost on a jump, and 1 broke off. I'll take it for only being out there an hour.
Here is the Reaction Strike Chunky Shad, this is the sexy shad color. I like these because the plastic is a little more rigid than other soft plastic swimbaits, and it does not seem to inhibit the action all that much. It is also a bit more compact, which I feel can induce more strikes from finicky fish, that would otherwise watch a larger bait swim right by.
This is the Strike King, KVD Jerkbait, in the Crystal Shad Color. I really like this color when imitating alewife, as the translucent properties give it a more natural look, especially on sunny days.
Day Two 7/15/16
On the Water 2:50PM - 7:45-PM
Air Temperature: 90-83
Water Temperature: 79-76
Water Clarity: Clear
Skies: Partly Cloudy/Sunny
Wind: 5-12 MPH
Barometric Pressure: 29.9-29.8
As soon as I got out, I headed right back to the same area I caught my fish on Thursday, to see if I could get on them again. As I drifted over the structure, I noticed the fish holding much closer to the structure than they were the previous day. This was to be expected as it was much hotter, and with the plentiful sunshine. I went back to the swimbait, and began fan casting the area, counting it down to 12, and then using a medium speed, start and stop retrieve. On my 6th or 7th cast, I hooked up, and was rewarded with my biggest fish of the day, weighing 3lbs, 12oz. When I got it to the side of the boat, I was sure it would be over 4, but it was long and slender. I fished this area for a while longer employing the same technique and landed 2 more fish in the 1.5-2lb range.
Shortly after, the wind picked up a little more, and whatever cloud cover was present, had quickly diminished. As the wind pushed me up the lake, I noticed a small amount of surface activity, so i tossed the fluke into the ripples, and hooked up with a fish that later jumped and spit the hook. I got my bait right back in the water and was hit a couple of times but couldn't hook up. Around 5:00, all the action seemingly died, with the slight chop on the water, it was difficult to pick up on bass busting on alewife, so I decided to paddle around and see if I could find some more active fish. I came up on another piece of structure that has produced in the past for me, but after throwing everything I had tied on at it, I came up empty. With the sun being so hot, I figured I would change my approach a little bit. There is a point that has some lily pads, and quickly drops off from 7' to 30'. I roll casted a 3/4 oz Green Pumpkin strike king football jig, with a watermelon/red Rage Tail Craw trailer, and before it hit bottom, I was on with a decent 2.5lb fish. A few casts later, I stroked the jig violently, and felt it get picked up as it descended towards the depths, and I stuck it with a rather violent hook set. This was my second biggest fish of the day, weighing in at 3lbs 10 oz.
As the sun started to dip behind the trees, the wind halted completely. It was getting ready to pack up, when I noticed an enormous amount of blitzing bass on the shaded side of the lake. I briskly mustered my way towards the explosions, and on three consecutive casts, I boated 3 fish on the super fluke, all of which were in the 2lb range. I slowly started making my way back to the launch, and was able to manage two more bass before my exit.
Total for Day 2:
3 Bass on a Reaction Strike Chunky Shad, including the 3lb 12 oz lunker
2 Bass on a Strike King Football Jig, including the 3lb 10 oz
5 Bass on an Albino Zoom Super Fluke
Here are the two 3 plus pound fish.
